A mulching blade is a lawnmower blade designed to cut your grass like a normal blade, but then keep the clippings in the cutting deck to repeatedly cut them into tiny pieces. Once small enough, the clippings are deposited back into the lawn where they act as a natural fertiliser.
Mulching blades are designed with more curves and a larger cutting edge to finely chop grass clippings before depositing them back onto the lawn. These blades are best for lawns mowed every three to four days.
Mulching blades are an excellent choice for use on lawns that receive a mowing every three or four days Using mulching blades on overgrown grass can result in clogging under the deck and piles of grass on the cut lawn. Mulching is also an environmentally friendly way to deal with grass clippings.
Cons: Mulching Blades do not mow grass well. Mulching blades are terrible when it comes to mowing your lawn. The bladed fins don't create the suction that the regular fins do and you'll be able to tell.
Yes, mulching mowers are great - better for your lawn and less landfill waste.
However, mulching also has some potential drawbacks. For example, if too much mulch is applied, it can smother the grass and prevent it from getting the oxygen it needs to thrive. In addition, mulch can also provide a hiding place for lawn pests, which can lead to infestations.
Since the blades cut slower, mulching while mowing also takes longer than side discharge. You have to mow slower because you want the mulched grass clippings to be spread evenly across your lawn.
1 – It's too wet
Heavy mowers will start to sink into the grass and whip up moisture as they cut your grass, which causes grass to clump in matted wet wads that clog the deck of your mower and its catcher.
Mulching Blades
As landscapers, with professional grade equipment you are in a great position to save time and money by switching to leaf mulching or mulch-mowing.
Disadvantages of Mulching
Even though using mulch has many benefits, in some cases, it can prove to be detrimental to your lawn or garden: Excessive mulch that is a layer more than 3 inches deep can suffocate and bury plants. In this case, oxygen and water are unable to reach the roots.
Mulching blades are an excellent choice for use on lawns that receive a mowing every three to four days. Using mulching blades on overgrown grass can result in clogging under the deck and piles of grass on the cut lawn. Mulching is also an environmentally friendly way to deal with grass clippings.
Which way does a mulching blade go on? The fin of the mulching blade should be pointed up.
Usually, Mulching mower blades do not require sharpening unless you are trying to concrete ballast or the kid's bikes.
Mulching blades feature a curved surface designed to cut grass and recut the clippings into smaller pieces for mulching. As such, this type of blade is the best option if you want to return finely cut grass back to your lawn for use as fertilizer.
Unlike other mulching blades that push the grass down, the high lift on a gator blade draws the grass up which in turn gives you a clean, even cut. This high lift also makes using Gator Blades in bagging operations a great choice.
There are some chemical products on the market that claim to dethatch, but horticulturists say they're ineffective [source: Fagerness]. Small dethatching blades are sold as lawn-mower attachments, but they're not the best choice because they put a lot of strain on the mower.
Mulching blades are sometimes called “all purpose” or “3-in-1” blades because you can use them to mulch, bag, or side discharge. Standard blades are called 2-in-1 blades because you can use them to either bag or side discharge the grass.
They generally feature a more curved style and frequently include extra cutting surfaces along the blade edges. If the blade is also referred to as a “3-in-1” blade or a bagger blade, then it can mulch, bag or side-discharge grass clippings.
A good mulching blade will chop the leaves very fine.
Mower Blade Height: Get that blade height just right. If it's too high or too low, you'll end up with those pesky strips. Constant repeating pattern every time the grass has been cut. Change directions and patterns every so often.
When you use a mulching mower, grass clippings are left behind to break down and help fertilize your lawn, leading to healthier, greener grass.
Lay Your Mulch Down
Once the grass is removed, apply your mulch all the way around the tree. You will want to use two to three inches of mulch all the way around the tree to get the best effect. Verify that you have kept the mulch approximately five inches from the trunk of the tree.
Mulching can be an expensive landscaping choice in terms of both money and labor. You will need to use good quality soil that contains large amounts of organic matter when planting your garden bed after it has been mulched. In the long run, you will need to replenish some of the mulch from time to time.
The mowing 1/3 rule, also referred to as the golden rule of mowing, instructs you to never cut more than 1/3 of the grass blade at a time. This rule is necessary because if you remove more than 1/3 of your grass blades while mowing, it could potentially kill your grass and allow weeds to grow too easily.
Mulch that is too high or too close to the trunk can cause problems that damage your tree over time. Too much mulch can… Smother the tree's roots, thus starving them of needed oxygen. In search for oxygen, the roots will often grow up through the mulch causing them to “girdle” around the trunk and cut off water supply.